I trace my passion to one event, and the three people who organized it: Debbie Zachareas, wine director of bacar; Terry Theise, who imports some of the very best samples of these wines; and Bill Mayer, who is perhaps the best retail source for these wines. Bill runs his business, The Age of Riesling, from his modest home in North Berkeley. This can make things awkward when you order wine, since you're not going to a storefront. Indeed, the wine isn't even stored at his home, so he has to schedule time to pick it up from his warehouse. It's worth the effort. Bill's a great guy (and a published poet), and his selection just can't be beat.
He recently celebrated his 10-year anniversary, and decided to have a tasting. He hasn't had a tasting in a while, and he needed to clear out his inventory for the 2003 arrivals, en route from Europe now. He held the tasting at Subterraneum, where Melissa and I store our wines. We bundled up more wine for the storage facility, and headed to the tasting.
I'm not going to give you tasting notes on all the wines: there were 55 bottles, and you'd be bored to tears by the end of it. I won't even tell you all my "plusses", since there were about 20 of those. I'll call out a few at random.
His recommended order for the wines was surprising, since he put red wines at the front. "I just think the white wines are more complex," he told me when I asked him about it. He's right; Germany and Austria aren't known for their red wines (though they do make some), and there's a reason. In general I found them only moderately interesting.
Here's a 5-second lesson about German designators. Germans (and to some extent Austrians) designate quality wines based on the ripeness of the grapes at harvest. This often but not always corresponds to sweetness in the final wine. In increasing order of ripeness, the levels are: Kabinett, Spatlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese (BA), Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA). Eiswein is a separate beast usually harvested between BA and TBA. BA, TBA, and eiswein are all dessert wines. Auslese is not quite a dessert wine (I often serve it with cheese or a light dessert), and Spatlese and Kabinetts are good solid dinner-time fare. And don't start with me about non-dessert German wines being "too sweet". Some are, but the best examples balance this so nicely with acidity that you don't even notice it. It's worth remembering that in Germany, it's a struggle just to get ripe grapes, so the good ones aren't that sweet. Besides, chances are you've got some sweetness on your dinner plate: vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers, fruit accompaniments, even caramelization all offer up some sugar.
2002 Erdener Treppchen Kabinett, Ernst Loosen (Riesling) - The Meulenhof Erdener Treppchen is one of my favorite wines, but Dr. Loosen's rendition is quite nice as well. It's a classic example of Riesling from the Mosel river, considered by many to be Germany's best wine region. Aromas of petrol and slate with pear and spice in the background. The pear and spice are more pronounced on the palate, framed by an exuberant and playful acidity. The wine has a nice long finish that really lets you enjoy it.
1997 Saarburger Rausch Auslese, Zilliken (Riesling) - German riesling ages very well, especially the wines made from riper grapes, and this was in nice shape. A nose of floral soap became Italian parsley on the finish, with a nice balance of sweetness and prickly acidity.
1998 Piri, Nigl (Grüner Veltliner) - Well-balanced aromas of dust and green forest. A sharp but short acidity gives way to melon which lingers for a medium-long finish.
Melissa and I ended up with a case, mostly of the wines that were available at reduced prices for that day only. There were plenty more we wanted to buy, but we're holding off; we still have to see how the 2003 vintage did. As in the rest of Europe, the record-breaking heat waves made this an "unusual" vintage in Germany. I expect there'll be plenty of wines at the higher end of the ripeness scale, but not a lot of dessert wines, because the heat prevented botrytis from forming.